Activity 5:Community Board Meeting

Activity 5:Community Board Meeting
Rosedelle A Chery


For the activity I decided to go the community board meeting that for community board 14 in Queens. I choose to attend this board meeting because it was for my neighborhood and the rest of the Rockaway Peninsula. The community board meeting was held on March 30th at 7pm at the Far Rockaway Church of Christ on beach 19th st and Nameyoke. The meeting hall wasn’t as big as one would expect being that this was supposed to be a community board meeting for the entire Rockaways and Breezy Point. There weren’t many people there either; it was about 45 people including the chair, speaker and other committee members. There were many topics and concerns discussed at the meeting. The meeting was split into two sessions; one was the public session and the other was the business session. I only stayed for the public session, because this was the session where the public was involved and encouraged to speak to the board.
The Meeting started with the speaker Angelina stating couple of decisions taken by the senator. She said that on February 24 the Senator passed the health Care Decision Act and on February 23 the senator legalized marijuana use for medical reasons. I found that very interesting because I didn’t hear about that anywhere else and I’m big supporter of marijuana for medical use. There were people talking behind me about how drug dealers and addicts might take advantage this decision and that it would ultimately hurt the community. Then there were many other speakers talking about issues and concerns that they had. There many different issues that the public had, such as how to make the Rockaways safer, putting a stop to gang violence, and the drug problem that are plaguing the Community. Another issue raised was about having festivals and block parties in the neighborhood as fund raisers and ways to collect money for different types of causes and to bring the community together. One of the festivals that were mentioned was one to raise money in order to restore some parks in Far Rockaway and to build some community centers in some of the vacant lots around Rockaway. The speaker for this festival was Manny Holmes, since there weren’t many people there; he had about 5 minutes to speak without being timed
One speaker that caught my attention was Rebecca Sanchez. Sanchez talked about a local issue that is bothering the neighborhood. Sanchez talked about the multiple complaints of fights that take place outside of Irish bars. This issue caught my attention because I also think that it is a big issue, these fights outside of clubs could affect the neighborhood peace and well as harm people walking by the clubs, especially children. Also I live next to a bar and I know how crazy people can get late at night coming from the bar. There was also a speaker from the 100 and 101 police precincts, Julie Mennon. I think she was there to listen to the concerns of the community about the violence that’s affecting Rockaway. She talked about some of the steps that police were taking to make our streets safer, like more patrols and various operations there were targeting drug and gun dealers. She also talked about how it was important for the community not to see the cops as enemies, put as partners in creating a better Rockaway.
One of the people attending, his name was Roy Myles, proposed as festival for the police officers and the community residents in order to establish some sort of trust between the two. I thought that it sounded like a good idea but I don’t think it will happen because too many people are set in there ways and don’t trust the cops, and I don’t think the cops will trust many people from Southern Rockaway, where most of the violence occurs. Most of the board members, including chair woman Dolores Orr, thought it was a good idea. Though the members said that they thought Mr. Myles suggestion was a good one, I believe that is was a good example of the fourth rung of the ladder of citizen participation, consultation. In this step on the ladder, citizens are allowed a certain degree of participation, in which they can state their concerns or ideas, however “they lack the power to insure that their views would be heated by the powerful…hence no assurance of changing the status quo” (Arnstein). I felt like all the talk of fundraisers was just talk, and I don’t have 100% percent confident that anything will happen. However this was only my first meeting so I will have faith. There were many other issues regarding money, improving neighborhoods, and land mark proposals.
One of the things that concerned me was the fact that the meeting was held is Far Rockaway, which is not really that safest or most welcoming place. I think that was the main reason why there weren’t many people there. Even I was hesitant to go there at night. I think they should find a more neutral place to have the meeting, so that more people might want to go. Overall I found the meeting very exciting. I was interested in the issues and concerns that each speaker brought up. I think these public meetings are very important in informing people about issues or upcoming plans because it helps people take an active part in making the community better. Sherry Arnstein states in the “Ladder of citizen Participation”, “citizen participation is a categorical term for citizen power. It is the redistribution of power that enables the have not citizens, previously excluded from the political and economic processes, t be deliberately included in the future.” When not have any real say on what decisions are made in Washington, but we can play a part in those made for out community. I never knew that community board meeting even existed; much less that there would be one in Rockaway. As soon as the semester is over, I will definitely attend more meetings.